Project: Shadow Angel
by ShadowCatRose
Summary: Welcome to Halloween Town, the home of really tall skeletons, pretty dolls, and ugly bags of bugs. King Mickey sends Sora and Riku here on a mission with vague details as to why. In this town that monsters call home, they might just discover the bright flame of light burning in even the deepest darkness. Post Dream Drop Distance. I don't own any Kingdom Hearts characters.
1. Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

There was supposed to be a break for Sora and his friends. No more dealing with Xehanort for the time being, the trials were over, Riku and Sora made it home in one piece, no more war against the Heartless and Nobodies. For now, at least. Back on Destiny Island, reunited with Kairi and Riku, everything was supposed to be peaceful, quiet, if only for a moment. His short respite was far too short. It ended with a message for him and Riku from King Mickey.

He was to go to Halloween Town and see one of his old friends, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. There, he was supposed to meet someone that needed his guidance, his protection. Once this unknown person was found, they were to go to King Mickey's castle and receive further instructions. Goofy and Donald weren't going on this mission this time. Riku would be his only companion. Beyond that, His Majesty would say nothing more. He said it was too dangerous to send him too much information at this point in time.

Well, that was that. Kairi and Lea would have to continue their training while waiting for them to return. It seems like these things would never end for the two boys.

In fact, a grand new adventure was just now beginning, with a strange new ally to add to their ranks…

And a new enemy waiting on the horizon…hapter 1: Stranger


	2. Jack's Little Helper

Chapter 2: Jack's Little Helper

"Did you take care of them all?"

"Yup, all by myself, Jack! I don't know why these "things" keep popping up…"

"Rose, please be more careful! You shouldn't go running off to fight them on your own."

"Jack, I can take care of myself. No need to worry so much."

Once again, the "Bone Daddy" of Halloween Town was scolding me for going off to fight the little black monsters again alone. I may dress like a child, but I'm no kid. I can handle these little twerps easily.

I've only recently moved in to Jack's place in Halloween Town a few months ago, but not long after I arrived, these little munchkins started showing up to attack me, and Jack and I figured out why not long after. He won't tell me much, but he keeps saying I've got a fantastic weapon on my hands. He's apparently seen it before. A friend of his has one of them. Whatever this weapon is, these little monsters want it. I tried giving them away, but they always come back to me. It's a little weird.

"Can you please, for once, not go looking for trouble?"

"All right…"

"Now, make sure you look presentable. We're going to the Mayor's house to go over a few plans for next Halloween."

"Okay!" Nothing makes me smile more than the thought of preparing for Halloween. You can't be a monster in Halloween Town and dislike Halloween. That's like Sandy Claws and all of his elves disliking Christmas. Every ghost and ghoul in this town loves the holiday, and I'm no exception. Scaring the daylights out of humans is too much fun!

While Jack was straightening his tie and making sure his suit looked presentable, I checked myself out in the broken mirror by the door to make sure I was decent for the trip. Even as a fellow monster, I still stand out from everyone else. I stick out quite plainly. I'm so weird; nobody can even tell what kind of monster I am. I'm not a vampire, a werewolf, a skeleton, a doll, a witch, nothing of the sort. I don't even know what kind of monster I am.

Staring back at me was a teenager, obviously, though from the way I dress, I still looked like a little kid. Big eyes of bright blue glimmered cheerfully in the low light of Jack's house, and contrasted with the pale skin it was set upon. I had my long black hair pulled up into pigtails with a left side part, making my bangs on the right side cover my eye just a bit. Elf-like ears and sharp fangs gave me my monster appearance.

My outfit is just as child-like as I am. A black dress with a square neckline and large sleeves ending at my elbows framed my tiny body. The neckline and waist was trimmed with dark red lace, and the underskirt was a matching shade of red, ending at mid-thigh, and a whole two inches longer than the top skirt. Black tights were covering my legs, and cool knee-high boots with dark red shoelaces covered my small feet. I had on a black choker with a silver cross pendant around my neck, and some lacy black fingerless gloves with dark red ribbons around the wrists.

As usual, I was carrying Snowy, my white teddy bear with only one button eye and covered in stitches. He'd gotten ripped a few times after Sandy Claws gave him to me, hence the Christmas-themed name, so I had to keep asking Sally to fix him up. It's not my fault my black nails are really sharp or Heartless keep ripping him up when I turn my back.

"I'm ready, Jack!"

"Splendid! Let's get going."

"Is Sally coming too?"

"Unfortunately, she's busy helping the Professor with another one of his projects for Halloween." That's a shame. Sally is really nice, and Jack really likes her a lot. I made friends with Sally quick because of the one thing we have in common that nobody in Halloween Town knows: we were created with science instead of being turned into monsters or born as one.

"Well, can we go play with her later?"

"As long as you're careful this time with the needles. You pricked yourself so many times!" Sally's been teaching me how to sew so I can fix Snowy by myself.

"I promise I will! It's just so darn hard to sew! I dunno how she does it."

"She gets a lot of practice." He laughed to himself as he outstretched one of his super long and bony hands to me. I took it and the two of us left the house together. I'm about the size of an average human, so I have to stretch my arm out really long to grab his hand, even though he's got really long gangly arms.

Playful barking echoed in my ears and I turned to see Zero, Jack's ghost dog, flying around us and causing a racket. I laughed at him and patted him on the head. "Hello, Zero! Sorry, we don't have time to play today. We've got to go help the Mayor with Halloween stuff. We can play later, okay?"

Zero whined, but he followed behind us, his ears drooping. When Jack gets too busy, he usually plays with me, but now Jack has been including me in the preparations as well. He gets kind of lonely, but there's no time to play when there's work to be done. Halloween recently passed, so we only have 300 days left until the next one! I'd make it up to him later and steal one of Jack's ribs so we can play fetch, as long as we don't get lost in the woods. Jack always gets mad when I do that.

We made it to the Town Square and I glanced at the fountain bubbling green ooze. The sea monsters sometimes like to pop out and try to scare me, so I'm always careful around the fountain. One was even mean enough to drop Snowy in it, and he almost turned green because of it. It took Sally three washes to get the color out. I can't have a green bear named Snowy, now can I? That would make no sense at all. I'd have to rename him Frankie.

"How is Boo Practice going for the ghouls?"

"They're still not scary enough, but pretty soon, they should be doing an even better job than they did last year!"

"I'm so excited; I can't wait for next Halloween!" Last year's had been my first, and I was ready to do it all over again. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, the Mayor said we'll be reviewing…"

"Shhh!" I suddenly silenced my skeleton friend and glanced around. Something wasn't right here; it was way too quiet. Zero's growling only added to the effect that we've got a problem. It's quieter than a graveyard, and that usually only happens when little black monsters show up.

I was right. In a matter of seconds, dozens of the small yellow-eyed creatures, what Jack calls Heartless, showed up, appearing from shadows across the square and moving to surround us. This made Jack and I both frown with disdain. We were going to be late for the meeting at the Mayor's house, that's for sure.

"Rose, you'll need your Keyblades…"

"I know…" I dropped Snowy by the fountain and concentrated on getting the giant keys to appear. It's just so darn hard to get those things to pop up. They're kind of finicky. It's not my fault I'm not entirely sure how they work. Jack was already jumping into battle, using his massive size to his advantage to swat the little monsters away, kicking them into walls or throwing them across the square. After a few seconds, the stupid key-shaped blades finally appeared, one in each of my hands.

Jack had commented once that the blades suited my style. Each one looked the same as the other. The entire "key" was black, and the key handle was heart-shaped. A dark red pattern of swirls wound itself all over it, and the "teeth" of the key really did look like jagged fangs. The charm attached to the key handle by a thin chain was a cracked black heart, hence why "Shadow Heart" had been the name I'd given the pair of Keyblades.

"Sorry for the wait, I'm ready! Here I come!" I joined Jack in the battle, slashing right through the Heartless. Every time I killed one, a little heart would pop out and float up into the sky. I dunno why. Jack really didn't know much about these Keyblade things.

As I cut my way through this little pack of monsters, a few armored Heartless showed up, and I groaned. "Man, they're really eager to try to kick my tail today. No matter, I'll defeat them!" Usually, I'd come across one or two of these every so often, but whoever had sent them, sent five, along with another wave of Heartless, and a few tall grey thingies. Now these ones hardly ever show up. I've only seen one of these once, and Jack called it a Nobody. This might be a bit of a challenge.

"Uh, Jack…there's a lot more coming…"

"They're not messing around…this could be trouble! I think we should make a run for it!"

"Run away!? Are you kidding, Jack?!"

"Normally I wouldn't run away from weak Heartless such as these, but you don't know how to use those Keyblades of yours very well yet…this would be a good time to have Sora and his friends here…"

There's that name again…Sora. Jack had mentioned that he was a friend, and he was also another person that had Keyblades. _Come on, I can be as good as this Sora guy! Just you watch, Jack, I'll take this guys on! They won't know what hit 'em!_

"I dunno about you, Jack, but I'm not going to run from these creeps!" I charged into battle, slashing at the stupid Heartless and their Nobody friends, but my move had gotten me separated from Jack in the pond of black and grey bodies.

"Rose, get back here!"

"Jack, I can do this! Grrr!" Like a beast, I growled and slashed through a group of Heartless and took out two of the armored ones, but they just kept coming at me. I was quickly getting overwhelmed by the little monsters. They'd backed me up against one of the large stone walls surrounding the square. "Damn it, get away!" _I need to find an opening, or they'll corner me!_ One Nobody came charging at me at its super-fast speed, and I ducked to try to dodge the oncoming blow…

**CLANG!**

Ringing in my ears alerted me that something with a blade just attacked my assailant, and I looked up just in time to see a boy cut down the last of the Nobodies, with a strange wing-shaped blade.

He turned around, and I caught a glimpse of his face. He looked about as old as I am, and it was strange how…human…he looked, like me. Long white hair cascaded down from his head, spiky-looking, and piercing light blue eyes were focused on his targets as he cut down many Heartless. He was dressed in all-black, like his friend. He had pointy ears and fangs to give him that monster-type look.

His buddy was just as odd-looking. His eyes were a darker shade of blue than mine, and his light brown hair stood up in crazy spikes all over the place. His skin was also tanner than mine. If it wasn't for the pointy ears, fangs, and bat wings, he'd probably look just like a human, too. He was wearing black clothes and there was a pumpkin over one of his eyes, so he fit right in with Halloween Town. This one had a silver and gold key as his sword…wait, it's a Keyblade!

"Sora! You came just in time! It's great to see you! You really should come by more often." Jack rushed up to the smaller boy and his friend, his skeleton grin stretching across his bony face.

"Nice to see you, too, Jack!" The kid seemed totally oblivious to the fact we were all in danger just now, and he was quite cheerful. Zero barked happily and nudged Sora, who patted the ghost canine on the head. "Hey, Zero! Nose as bright and shiny as ever, I see."

Then Jack just now remembered me. "You okay, Rose? Did you get hurt? You really shouldn't be so reckless." He extended a hand out to help me up, which I took gratefully and pulled myself to my feet.

"I couldn't help it, those guys were ruining my awesome day…and this is that Sora person you keep talking about? Why do you only have one Keyblade?" I tilted my head to the side and examined the key he was holding. It wasn't as fancy as my two Keyblades, but it sure did the job, even by itself.

The kid and his companion looked at me for the first time, then to my Keyblades, shock, awe, and disbelief darting across their faces.

"Whoa! Sora, she's got TWO Keyblades! You can't even do that without your drives." The silver-haired teen seemed to be teasing the younger one. "Is this the person the King was talking about?"

"I dunno, Riku." Sora was pretty much stunned into silence.

"Oh, right, how rude of me! I forgot to introduce you all! Rose, this is Sora. I'm not sure who his friend is. Usually he has Donald and Goofy with him…"

"Those guys are busy. This is my friend, Riku. I was telling you about him before."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Jack! And this is Rose. She moved here not too long ago. I was actually hoping you'd drop by sooner or later, Sora. Ever since she got here, the Heartless and Nobodies keep attacking her; especially since she found out she has Keyblades. I wouldn't be so worried, if she had any idea how to use them!"

"Well, uh…" I guess I really am clueless when it comes to battling with these things. Sora took out those Nobodies like it was second-nature. He wasn't clumsy about it like I am, either.

Sora nodded. "This is definitely why the King sent us here, Riku."

"The…King?"

"Our friend, King Mickey, asked us to come here. He said somebody here needs my help, and he wants to talk to them."

"If anybody in Halloween Town needs your help, it's Rose." Jack sighed. "Great, now we're late for the meeting, too…"

I went back to the fountain and scooped up Snowy. "We should get going then, Jack!"

He shook his empty cranium at me. "How about you stay here and get acquainted with Sora and his friend?"

"But, Jack…!"

"I told you not to be reckless, but you still didn't listen. You could have gotten hurt back there, or worse!"

"But…but…"

"No buts. Go back to the house with the boys and think about what you did."

Man, now I'm in trouble. "Okay…" Sulking, I dragged my feet on the stone ground of the square as I made my way back to Jack's house. The other two followed behind, rather quietly I might add.

…..

"You guys want any spider tea?"

They both shared a look, and then turned back to me, shaking their heads in unison. Creepy.

"All right, suit yourself." I sat down on the dusty armchair in the living room and put my cup of tea on the rickety old coffee table. The boys were seated on the couch across from me, glancing about the room. "I…uh…thanks for earlier…"

"With the Heartless? No big deal." Sora shrugged his shoulders, like it really was no big deal at all.

Riku gave me a curious look. "So, you live here with that skeleton guy?"

"Sheesh, you must be new to Halloween Town if you don't know who Jack is. Yeah, I'm living here, just until I get a place of my own or something. I haven't been here that long, but the Mayor's already talking about building me a house. He wanted to shove me out in the woods so the Heartless would stop coming into town and wrecking the place, but Jack won't let him. The Mayor doesn't like me very much. He's just a big scaredy-cat." _I always seem to drag trouble with me wherever I go…_ "It's not my fault they come after me all the time. I didn't know I had these stupid Keyblade things until shortly after I got here."

Sora nudged Riku. "You can always come with us and go see King Mickey. He wants to meet you, and he might teach you a few things! He's got a Keyblade, too."

"So, you and I are not the only ones…?"

Riku seemed to pout, but he didn't act all cheery and childish like his comrade. He was the more serious of the two. "Just because mine isn't shaped like a key, doesn't mean it's not a Keyblade!"

"There are a small handful of people that have Keyblades, but I've never seen anybody use two of the same blade…I have to use drives to even attempt to use two Keyblades."

"Great, I'm a freak among the freaks." _I can't get rid of the damn things, either. Oogie Boogie tried and failed miserably to take them, the jealous bag of bugs._ "I can't just get up and leave town…I owe everyone here so much…" _Jack took me in, Sandy Claws gave me presents, and Sally's been a great friend..._

Riku frowned at me. "But you're putting your friends in danger like this!"

"I guess…that's true…"

Sora glared at the other boy. "Don't be so hard on her, Riku! It's not her fault she doesn't know how to use them. I was like that in the beginning, and you weren't so perfect at it, either. Look, King Mickey sent us here to find you and take you to his castle to talk to him. Why don't you come with us? I dunno what he wants to talk to you for, but you should at least learn how to use your Keyblades a bit before you come back. Jack can handle the Halloween preparations on his own. Besides, you won't be gone forever. We won't force you to come, either."

"I…I dunno…" I've got a lot of questions, but I'm not entirely sure if I should just get up and leave like this. When I'd discovered this strange ability, I'd settled for defending Halloween Town first, asking questions later. Now that I have the option to find out, I kind of don't want to leave. This place is like a home to me after all.

I rubbed Snowy's ear, a nervous habit I had grown into when I'd gotten the bear from Sandy Claws. "Can I have a bit of time to think about it…?" Before doing anything, I usually consulted Jack. He'd know what to do. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, is a genius, and he has all the answers! Even if he's literally brainless.

Sora nodded. "Sure. I don't mind sticking around for a bit, anyway. It's been forever since we've been to Halloween Town! How is everybody?"

"Things are all great here! Do you like Halloween? We just had our annual celebration of it not too long ago!"

"You want to go with me to take Riku on a little tour? He's never been here before!"

"We should go to Sandy Claws' place! It's been forever, and I want one of his sugar cookies right about now!"

"We didn't come here to have fun, Sora."

"Lighten up a bit, Riku! You'll love this place!"

…..

So, I took them both out for a tour of the town. The whole town is big, and there was so much stuff to do, we didn't get to go to Sandy Claws' house, but I promised them I'd take them to go see him tomorrow. It was getting kind of late, and they had to go back to their ship for some shut-eye. This gave me the perfect opportunity to talk to Jack.

The great Pumpkin King came back to our house very late. I had waited up for him, once again reading one of Jack's books on Christmas stories, the one about the reindeer with a shiny nose.

He seemed tired, right down to his bones, but he perked up immediately when he noticed I was still up and waiting for him. "You're still up?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you…" I put the book down on the nightstand in his library.

"Reading _Rudolph_ again?" He sat down in another chair next to the fireplace while Zero barked happily and settled down in his master's lap.

"That one's my favorite." I gave him a wry smile. What would he think, if I told him I was considering on taking a little trip away from Halloween Town?

"Something's not right. You always have that look on your face when you're not in a good mood. What's wrong? Did you rip Snowy's arm off again?"

"No, he's fine…but…" How was I supposed to put this...? "Well…your friends want me to leave town for a while to go see a friend of theirs…to learn about Keyblades and stuff, I think…I dunno how long I'll be gone, if I go…what should I do, Jack? I don't really want to leave…but if I stay and don't figure this out, bad things might happen…" _I told myself being here wouldn't be a permanent thing…and still I let myself get attached…it's all his fault…he made me like this…_

Jack was really quiet for a while, and I almost heard him taking my words for thought. He spoke after a minute, giving me a reassuring grin. "I know it's a tough decision, but there's no point in asking me. In the end, you have to make the choice. I can't do it for you."

"You're right…" Of course he's right, he's always right. Well, except the time he tried to take Christmas. Sally told me about that one. That's the only time Jack's been wrong about something. "It won't be too much trouble, if I go…?"

"Of course not! We'll all be fine here! Sally and I will miss you a lot, and I bet Sandy Claws will, too, but if it makes you happy, you should go. You won't be going alone, either. Sora's really nice!"

"What about that Riku guy…?"

"I don't know much about him. The last few times Sora came to visit, he was looking for a guy named Riku. I guess he found his friend. But, if he's a friend of Sora, he's a friend of mine!"

"…I'll go with them, then, I guess. Thanks for the advice, Jack. I'll tell them my decision after we go pay Sandy Claws a visit tomorrow. I'll want to say goodbye to him, and of course you and Sally."

"Well, it sounds like you've got a big day planned tomorrow. You should get to bed."

"Yeah, gotta get up bright and early…I've got a lot to do…now I have to add packing to that list, and saying my goodbyes…"

"Come on, I'll make you a cup of tea, and we'll both head to bed."

"Add lots of spider legs?"

"Just the way you like it." He gave me his famous skeleton grin and patted me on the head as we went into the kitchen together. This would be the one thing I would miss the most: being a family with Jack. He's been like a best friend, a big brother, and a dad, all wrapped up into one. But, all good things must come to an end, even if only temporarily.


	3. Leaving Halloween Town

Chapter 3: Leaving Halloween Town

"Hey, Jack, think fast!"

**WOOMPH!**

"Hahaha, I gotcha!" Now he had a face-full of snow from the snowball I just chucked at him. A few of the elf children in town taught me this game, and I liked to play it every time I passed through the magical tree-shaped door and transported myself into Christmas Town. It never snows in Halloween Town, so this is the only place I can play it.

Jack laughed as he used his bony fingers to wipe the soft white ice from his face. "I'm going to get you for that!" He scooped up a handful of snow, pressed it into a snowball, and then chucked it at me, but I ducked just in time. Unfortunately for Sora, he'd been walking not far behind me, so he was the one that ended up with a snowball to his face.

"Oops! Sorry, Sora…"

"It's all right!" The boy just laughed and joined in on our snowball fight, hastily making his own ice projectile and launching it at the slender figure. With one leap, Jack moved out of the path of the snowball, so it landed right on Riku's head instead.

All of us burst into laughter while the silver-haired kid turned to Sora and glared. "Why'd you do that!?"

"I was aiming for Jack, sorry, Riku!"

"I'm going to get you for that, Sora!" He also joined in on our snowball fight, so we were all running around Christmas Town's square, chucking snowballs at each other and laughing. I thought Riku was going to get mad, but those two boys had turned the whole thing into a competition. They must really like to compete with each other, because I ended up on a team with Riku, while Jack was teamed up with Sora.

"You're never going to hit me, Riku!" The playful, spiky-haired kid was running around and dodging his friend's snowball attacks, so I went in for a surprise attack. Using my super-sneaky skills and awesome monster speed, I managed to sneak up on him and push him into a huge pile of snow. Riku cracked up laughing.

"Looks like you let yourself get beat by a girl."

A snowball landed right on his face, just for that comment. I crossed my arms and pouted childishly, giving Riku a harsh look. "What's so wrong about getting beaten by a girl?"

Now it was Sora's turn to mock Riku. "Nice work, Ice Face!" While he tried to stifle his own laughter, I gave him a hand up and pulled him out of the snow pile, giggling with him.

"All right, I think we've had enough fun in the snow for one day. It's all fun and games until you get snow in your hair." Everyone glanced at Sora, who looked quite ridiculous with his snow-ridden hair, and we all started laughing again. The poor boy shook all of the snow out of his spiky brunette locks as we made our way to Sandy Claws' house.

Jack knocked on the wooden door with his slender fingers. "Hey, Sandy Claws! It's us!"

After some rustling sounds, the short and fat human guy we all know as Sandy Claws opened the door, raising an eyebrow at Jack. "What is it, Jack? I'm busy checking my list for next Christmas…!"

"Hi, Mr. Sandy Claws!"

"Oh, you brought Rose with you. How is that bear of yours holding up?"

I proudly showed Sandy Claws my teddy bear. "Well, he's a little worse for the wear, but I haven't ripped him in a whole week! I think it's a new record! I'm sorry he keeps getting torn up. I carry him almost everywhere…"

"Good job. I'm glad to see you like him so much." He gave me one of his old man warm smiles, and then turned to Sora and Riku. "It's been quite a while, Sora. Ah, and you brought Riku this time!"

Riku seemed to be quite shocked that he was meeting Mr. Sandy Claws himself. "Wait, you mean to tell me…"

"Yup, that's Santa Claus, and he's real, all right. Who'd you think we were meeting?"

"Well, everybody in Halloween Town keeps saying his name wrong! I thought we were meeting another monster."

Jack scratched his head. "Well, there's a long story explaining the name mix-up…"

"Can we go in? It's kind of chilly, and I was hoping Mrs. Sandy Claws made cookies again…" I do love her cookies, but her sugar cookies are my favorite.

"She made some just this morning! You'll have to ask first before you can have any. Come on in." He gestured for everyone to enter the small cottage, and we all headed inside, Jack having to crouch down considerably due to his tall height.

"What brings you to Halloween Town this evening, besides Mrs. Claus' cookies?"

"I wanted to show Sora's friend around, and, well, I guess to say goodbye, while I'm here…I'm going on a little trip very soon…"

The two boys exchanged glances. "So, wait, you're going to come with us?" Sora seemed a little excited at the news, but Riku looked like he could care less.

"Yeah. I made up my mind last night."

"Everyone in Halloween Town is going to miss her, but she thought it would be the best idea to go with you."

Sandy Claws nodded. "It's a shame you have to go; it feels like you only just arrived. I do enjoy your help with the toy-making."

"I know, but I've got a few things to take care of. No need to worry!" I gave the elderly man a big reassuring smile. He likes to worry too much. It just comes with his job. He's got a huge responsibility every year, like Jack. I think every leader of their holiday tends to become worrywarts.

"You should have told me sooner! I would have asked Mrs. Claus to bake a whole batch of her cookies to take with you. It might be a long trip."

"Well, darn, if I knew that, I would have come over sooner!"

"Let's see, maybe we can get something whipped up quick…"

…..

All of us spent a lot of time at Sandy Claws' house, eating yummy snacks and talking about how the last holidays went, but eventually, we had to leave. We were all making our way back to Jack's house, where I'd left my bag with my stuff all packed up and ready to go. Sally had even come by that morning and given me a sewing kit, just in case I ripped Snowy again during the trip. She had a long day with Halloween preparations, so she'd already said her goodbye to me. It was kind of hard to keep from crying so I wouldn't get her cloth body wet. It just messes with her stitches and all of the straw she's stuffed with.

But, on the way back, we ran into a little bit of trouble. Zero just suddenly started barking his head off not long after we climbed out of the Christmas door out in the woods. That was never a good sign.

"Looks like we've got company again." Jack sounded pretty irritated by the sound of his voice. Usually he's a very cheerful skeleton, but you **never** want to make Jack mad. He can get pretty scary and mean when he needs to be.

"Smells like darkness…" Riku already had his Keyblade out, looking around warily for the intruder. Sora also had his own Keyblade at the ready, searching around for signs of danger. It took me a few wrist flicks, but I got my blades out after a few seconds. No way was I going to stand back and watch while the boys did all the work.

"You know, you're really creepy when you do that."

"Oh, shut up."

"How about both of you dumb boys shut up before I-"

I was rudely interrupted by the sound of a clanking metal monstrosity of a Heartless in the shape of an empty suit of armor. He didn't seem too happy to see us, because he was already swinging his large metal fists at us. All four of us nimbly darted out of the way while Zero flew behind a tree to hide from the battle.

"These stupid Heartless just don't seem to end!"

"Getting cold feet, Riku? I thought a Keyblade wielder with the Mark of Mastery would be fearless in the face of danger!" Sora laughed at his best friend before he charged into the fight, blocking an attack from one of the arms.

"Do you two **ever** stop? You're worse than Lock, Shock and Barrel having a "Who Can Cause the Most Destruction" contest." I shook my head at both of them as I moved in to help Sora, knocking the arm away. Jack pitched in and charged at the Heartless, crashing into it and knocking it down to the ground. Riku finished it off with a mighty swing of his Keyblade, knocking the head far away from the body, causing it to die and release its heart.

A fluttering overhead caught my attention, and I spotted a black bat-looking Heartless flying away from the battle scene overhead. No way was he going to sneak away to whoever sent him!

"I'll grab it, you guys stay here!"

"Rose, don't run into a tree!"

"Stop your worrying, Jack!" I took a running start and jumped, gaining a bit of momentum for me to take flight and chase after that Heartless.

What, you didn't know I can fly? You know now. I discovered it by accident once when I fell out of a tree I was climbing. They manifest in the shape of wings, black ones, but they're not real. They're see-through and intangible. Now I'm in hot pursuit of that mangy little Heartless. It didn't take long for me to catch up to the creature and strike it down with a blast of black and red fire from my Keyblades.

I returned to the group shortly after, grinning at them all. Jack gave me a pat on the head as I landed, while the boys kind of just stared at me awkwardly. Creeeeepy.

"Nice work."

"Thanks, Jack!"

"Did you just…?" Riku broke out of his stupor and gave me a confused look while Sora's jaw drop was still evident on his child-like features.

"Yeah. Is it that unusual…?" Well, I did discover that not everyone in Halloween Town can actually fly, like everyone in my home world can. I suppose they've rarely or never seen someone like me fly before.

Riku glanced over at Sora and punched him in the shoulder to get him to stop staring at me. "Sorry, we were just…surprised."

"It's no big deal. I guess I am a little strange." I shrugged and let my Keyblades vanish. "Shouldn't we get back to town? I'd rather just get this over with…the sooner I leave, the sooner the Heartless will leave everyone alone…"

All three boys and Zero exchanged glances, but soon followed me as I walked along the dirt path that led out of the woods. Jack and I had been through here so many times, we'd worn down the dry dirt into a soft path to guide the way to the doorways. The rest of our walk back to Jack's house was pretty quiet.

…..

The house felt so eerie when I left it, my messenger bag slung over my shoulder and Snowy's hand in mine. Jack, Sora, Riku, and Zero were all waiting for me at the large iron gates outside of the Pumpkin King's house. After a deep breath to calm myself and steel my resolve, I walked down the stone steps and joined them right outside the gates.

Zero gave me a few cheerful barks, so I patted the ghost dog on the head. "You take care of yourself, Zero. Don't go burying Jack's femur in the graveyard while I'm gone, okay? He kind of needs that."

"Oh, don't worry about me. We'll be all right." Jack gave me his friendly skeleton grin and gave me another pat on the head, careful not to ruffle up my hair. "You take care of yourself, okay? Don't forget, you'll always have a place with me. I'm gonna miss ya, kiddo."

"I'll miss you too, Jack. When I can, I'll be back. I don't know how far this place is, but you're always with me, right here, so I won't be so lonely without you." I proudly pointed to my chest where my heart is. That was one of the first lessons I was taught by Jack and Sally.

"Boys, take care of Rose, okay? I want you to make sure she's always got a smile on her face." I knew what he meant by that. There wasn't any need to worry about something like that happening to me anymore, but as you should know by now, he worries about me a lot.

"Of course, Jack! We wouldn't dream of it! Donald says the ship works on happy feelings anyway."

"You know he was kidding when he said that."

"Awww, really!?" Riku sighed in an exasperated manner while Sora gave him a look of sorrowful realization. Man, Sora can be a bit of an air-head sometimes, can't he?

"Never mind. Come on, we've got a long trip ahead of us." Riku motioned for me to follow the boys, and I did. I told myself a thousand times not to look back, but I did it anyway. Poor Jack. I hope he and Sally can handle Halloween Town without me…

…..

"First thing is first. If you're going to travel with us, we need to clue you in on a little secret." The boys had their "Gummi Ship" parked somewhere outside of town. It looked rather comical with its bright colors, but I wasn't going to make fun of it. It was different than what I'm usually used to, so I'm feeling excited as well.

"Secret? What secret?"

"Well…there's the big secret we're not supposed to tell anyone, but you're gonna find out anyway. We're not from this world. There are actually other worlds out there, and there are a lot of them…" Sora scratched the back of his head while Riku patiently listened to him explain.

"I already knew that. I told you already, I'm not from Halloween Town. I'm not from this world at all. It's also kind of obvious that you guys aren't from this world. You stick out just as much as I do."

"What!? But the disguise magic is supposed to make us blend in…maybe it's not as good without Donald to cast it? That doesn't make sense, though, since I look exactly the same as when I usually come here…"

"I think it's because I'm from another world, Sora, so I know what to look for. Technically, you guys do blend in, but it's noticeable to anyone that knows about other worlds."

"You've got a point, there."

"So you both are wearing disguises?"

Riku nodded to me. "We don't usually look like this. In fact, we're not monsters at all."

"I figured as much. No self-respecting monster in either my world or this one turns down spider tea."

"You'll be able to see what we really look like when we get on the ship. Come on, King Mickey's waiting for us!" The eager boy rushed to the ship and opened the side hatch for all of us to get inside. It was kind of small, inside and out, but that's to be expected. Now, a battle ship, THAT would need to be big, but if it's a ship for only a handful of people, it's going to be tiny. Only a pair of lasers and a shield generator was attached to the ship for a defense system.

"Nice ship…" _Well, considering it's the first time I've been on one, it would be to my eyes._

"It's not really ours; the King just lets us use it." Sora plopped himself into the captain's chair and started meddling with the controls while Riku sat down into another seat, sighing.

It was then that I noticed the two really were wearing disguises. In the ship, they'd somehow vanished. Now I was looking at two ordinary human teens. Their clothes had changed drastically, too. Sora's clothes were still dark-colored with red, black, and blue, but yellow brightened up the outfit. The black jacket, blue and red shirt, black and blue capris with yellow crisscrossing straps, and large black and yellow shoes looked really cool on him. To finish off the outfit, he had on a silver necklace with a pendant shaped like a crown. Riku was wearing blue pants with a black belt, a black zipper-up shirt, a white and yellow vest, white shoes with yellow laces, and a white wrist warmer on his left hand.

"Well, you guys look…different."

"Different from what you're used to, at least." Riku shrugged as he swiveled in his chair to look at Sora. "You ready to fly this thing yet? Or should I take over? You nearly crashed the ship into the side of Halloween Town when we got here."

"I've spent more time on this ship than you! I watched Donald do it tons of times!"

"Watching and actually flying it are two different things. Goofy could probably fly this better than you, and he's the clumsiest person I've ever met."

"Do you two do this all the time? You act like brothers or something." I laughed at them and hopped into the remaining co-pilot chair, sitting cross-legged with Snowy in my lap. "Let's get moving, Captain Sora. We've got a king to go see."

…..

It didn't take us long to reach the new world. After an amazing trip in the Gummi Ship, passing by many worlds I'd never seen before, we landed at what Sora and Riku called Disney Castle. This large white castle, surrounded by gorgeous gardens, took my breath away. After we'd left the docking area for the ships, you could imagine my surprise at how bright everything is. This place felt so clean and pure, I bet you a single drop of darkness could never reach this place.

"Wow…" Yeah, I'm SO out of place here. Odd-looking servants scuttled by, staring at me, while I stared at them. The people of this world are so strange-looking. They look like animals, but they all walked upright, and they talked, too. I've only seen animals in the human world during Halloween, but these definitely weren't like those ones at all.

The three of us walked down a long hallway, the two boys leading the way while I was ogling everything that caught my eye. "So, where do you think the King is, Riku?"

"I bet you His Majesty is in his office. Maybe we should ask someone, just to be sure…?"

"Sora! Riku!"

"Hi, fellas! Welcome back!" Two of the "animals" in the castle were waving at our group. One of them was what looked like a duck in a blue wizard's costume, and the other was a really tall dog-looking creature dressed as a knight. The duck had a lisp, so he sounded funny when he was yelling out their names.

"Thanks, you guys. Where's the King?" The two pairs of boys met up in the middle of the hallway, while I slowly, and quite shyly, followed behind, hugging Snowy to me tighter.

"Why, he's in his office. Chip and Dale made sure to let him know when ya got here. He can't wait to see ya!" The big dog knight glanced over Sora's shoulder, with hardly any difficulty since he was taller than all of us, and looked at me curiously. "Who's that?"

"Oh, right! Guys, this is Rose. She's from Halloween Town."

"Sure looks like it." At least that's what I think the duck said. It's kind of hard to understand him. "I'm Donald Duck, the King's court wizard."

"The name's Goofy! I'm his knight!"

"Uh…nice to meet you…" I'm such a coward without Jack around.

Sora laughed at me. "There's no need to be so shy!"

"Don't laugh at her, Sora. You'd act shy too if you went to a new world without knowing anybody."

"Right…sorry…" The spiky-haired teen scratched the back of his head sheepishly while Riku gave him a scolding look.

"It's no big deal, really, Sora. So, uh, let's go see His Majesty, then?"

The animals nodded. "Right this way, Miss Rose!"

"No need to be so formal, Goofy…" My face turned scarlet in embarrassment.

"Goofy's just really polite." Sora gave him a nod and patted the knight on the shoulder while we stopped in front of a large pair of doors that probably led to the King's office.

Donald knocked on the door, and he was responded with a quiet "Come in." from somewhere inside. He opened the door and eagerly went inside, followed by Goofy, Sora, Riku, and then finally me.

As an office, it was what I expected it to be. The room's walls were lined with bookshelves, full of mountains of books. In the center of the room was a wooden desk with various objects strewn across it. The one thing I didn't expect was the familiar figure sitting in the chair of that desk. I'd seen this black mouse person before, quite a long time ago.

"Wait…it's you…!"

"Gosh, it's nice to see you again. How have you been?"


	4. Riku's Apprentice & Magic Spells

Chapter 4: Riku's Apprentice & Magic Spells

"Okay, I'm REALLY confused." Sora scratched the back of his head, just as puzzled as everyone else, with the exception of me and the King.

"Can you boys go wait outside? I need a minute with her, alone." He must have wanted to talk about things privately for a little while, which I was grateful for. He knew more about me than anyone else did.

Reluctantly, everyone filed out of the office except for the two of us.

"Sorry we didn't have time for introductions last time we met. I'm King Mickey."

Quickly, I curtsied in a respective manner. "I'm sorry; I had no idea that you were royalty, Your Majesty…"

"It's all right. We're friends, aren't we? All of my friends are always so formal with me. You can just call me Mickey."

"Okay…Mickey…"

"I never got the chance to ask you what your name was last time, either. He only kept calling you Shadow Angel, and that's not really a name, is it?"

"When you left me in Halloween Town and Jack found me, he gave me a better name. It's Rose. Sally likes plants, and she showed me roses one time. They were really pretty. Apparently I liked them so much, Jack named me after them. Those first few days are still a little hazy…"

"It's all right. You were like a zombie when we first met. You've changed a lot, in a good way. You're not so…empty. That's the only way I can put it."

"I had some help." I smiled at him. "So, you called me here, and here I am. What do you need?" Now that I know who this king really is, I wasn't so worried at all. If he needed something from me, I'd do my best to help him. He helped me once, and I'd be glad to return the favor.

"I went back to that place, and I found this. He abandoned everything." He pulled a folder out of his desk drawer and put it on the top so I could see what it said. _Project: Shadow Angel _was scrawled in neat handwriting across the front.

"Ah…so you found his documents…you read it, didn't you?"

"…" His silence gave me my answer.

"So now you know everything. Please don't…don't tell anyone else. If they knew…they might not trust me."

He crossed his arms over his tiny chest. With his small child size, he wasn't very intimidating, but that gaze was quite intense. "Now why would I go do something like that? I know it's important not to keep secrets from your friends, but I won't go telling anybody something like this, either. Not until you're ready to talk about it. Everyone in Halloween Town can't know, anyway. They might find out about other worlds, and you know that's supposed to be a secret."

"You're right...but, I suppose Sora and Riku…I can count them as friends, too. They've been awfully nice to me. I don't want to mess that up."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I promise." He smiled cheerfully at me. "I also heard that you've done an extraordinary thing. You can use a Keyblade, right? That's a rare gift. To be chosen is a great honor." He summoned up a Keyblade that looked just like Sora's, but the colors were swapped. The key itself was gold, and the handle was silver. "I've got one myself."

"Well, I…it's not just one." I brought out mine, with a bit of trouble, but I managed it. "Somehow, I've got two."

"That is unusual." He scratched the back of one of his ears while he thought. "He wanted you to be strong, but it looks like he got more than he asked for. I doubt he expected this at all."

"And that brings me to the question as to why I keep getting attacked by Heartless."

"I heard about that, too. Usually, Heartless act on their own, seeking to steal the hearts of people and make more Heartless. But, it's not uncommon that Heartless can be controlled by powerful people with strong dark magic."

"Do you think he's using the Heartless to try to find me?"

"Heartless tend to track down Keyblade wielders easily, so it's possible. They Keyblade is a threat to them. It's the only thing that can destroy a Heartless and release the hearts they've stolen."

"So, they're going to keep coming after me, as long as I have these Keyblades…and I can't get rid of them. What should I do, Mickey?"

"Well, I'd send you to go train with Master Yen Sid, since he's already helping to train two more of my friends, Kairi and Lea…"

"But they would be in danger if I did go. If he sends strong Heartless after a bunch of beginners, we'd all be in trouble."

"Master Yen Sid is a powerful wizard, so he could protect all of you, but the constant interruptions to training would be annoying. I can't train you, either; I've got my own assignment I have to complete, protecting the seven Princesses of Heart." He was silent for a few moments while he thought. "So, that leaves me with only one option."

"I'm all ears. Oh, uh, no pun intended."

"Hahaha, that's all right. Riku has the Mark of Mastery, so he could take you as his apprentice. While you're working to get better with your Keyblades, we can have all of you travel the worlds to find him. The sooner we stop him from coming after you, the sooner you can finish up your training and go back to Halloween Town, if that's what you want."

"So, this trip is going to be much longer than I thought…but, if it makes sure everyone back home is safe, I'm up for it!" I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll train hard, I promise!"

"That's the spirit! Just be careful, and make sure to stick with Sora and Riku. Like every world, there are people with good hearts, and not so good hearts."

"You mean like how most of the people in Halloween Town are nice, but people like Oogie Boogie and his little cronies are a bunch of jerks that'll deceive you?"

"Exactly. Every world has people like that."

"And if we run into him...and I'm not ready to take him on…?"

"The boys will take care of you, don't you worry about a thing. You've just gotta believe in them."

"If you say so, Mickey."

"Let's call the boys back in, and we'll see what they think. I won't tell them everything, but they have to know what you all are going to be up against."

"I understand."

…..

His Majesty soon called the two boys back into the room, and they were all curious to hear what was going on. I stayed quiet while King Mickey told them about his plans for what step we were going to take next.

"Now. Sora and Riku, you've seen that the Heartless are coming after our friend Rose here, right?"

Both boys nodded.

"She's being chased by Heartless because of someone from her world."

I pitched in to the conversation to give them a bit more of the details. "His name's Darius. Prince Darius, if you have to add his stupid title. He's royalty where I come from, but he's just as black-hearted as everyone else in Dusk City."

"I think he's obtained the power to control Heartless, just like Maleficent."

"Why does he want her?" Riku was smart enough to ask the obvious question.

"He knows she's strong…"

"…And he wants a strong person under his thumb so he can steal the throne from his father and rule Dusk City. You see, people in my world don't ever grow old, so his father would have to perish in battle for him to inherit the throne."

"That makes sense." Sora nodded. "Well, what's the plan, Mickey?"

"Well, we can't leave her defenseless at home, and we have to stop Darius, and she knows all about him. So I suggested to her that Master Riku here makes her his apprentice. She can learn how to fight with her Keyblades while all three of you travel the worlds to find him. She's already agreed to the idea, but I wanted to ask you boys first before we did anything."

Riku seemed surprised at this. "You want me to take on an apprentice…?"

"You're a Master now, Riku! With the Mark of Mastery, you can take on an apprentice. Master Yen Sid is already busy training Kairi and Lea. Plus; I think you'll make the perfect teacher for her."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for it…"

"I **know** you can do it, Riku!"

"Well…all right, I'll do it."

"Great! So, Rose will be coming with you guys to find Darius while she's training." He nodded. "It's all settled, then! I wish you all the best of luck. I'll be busy keeping my eyes on the Princesses of Heart, but I'll help you guys in any way I can."

"Speaking of the princesses…if she's a Keyblade wielder, is Rose one of the pure lights, too? I know we should have all of them accounted for, even if some of us aren't ready, and two of us are still missing…" There goes Riku again, asking the smart questions. He's got more sense than Sora, obviously. I don't exactly know what he's going on about, but he's definitely the smarter cookie of the two.

"That's a hard question to answer…she's not **exactly **one of the seven pure lights, but she can still help us when the Keyblade War approaches. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense now, but it will when the time is right."

Sora grinned. "Well, if we want to stop this Darius guy, we should get going! You probably want to get started with training, too, right Rose?"

"Right! The sooner I can fight, the better!"

"I guess that settled then!" Mickey grinned.

"So, any ideas on where we should start looking for him?" Sora glanced between the two of us. "You guys seem to know him better than we do."

"I don't really have a clue. How about you, Rose?"

"He could be anywhere. That guy is completely unpredictable…"

Sora shrugged. "I guess we'll just pick a world and start looking. TO THE GUMMI SHIP!" He was already running out the door. Both Riku and I just facepalmed.

"Well, somebody's excited about our little adventure. Ready to get going, Rose?"

"I suppose so. Take care of yourself, Mickey."

"I will! You guys need to be careful out there, okay?"

"Sure will. See you later!" I jogged out of the office to keep up with Riku's long strides as we headed back towards the docking bay of the castle. Guess there was no time for a break. The sooner we stopped Darius, the better, I suppose.

…..

"Okay, so…where are we exactly…?" We ended up in a world that Sora had suggested we go to first to go talk to some old wizard guy that knew a few things about magic. He wanted to brush up on his skills, and possibly teach me a few things, before we actually got completely underway with our journey. Besides, if this wizard is intelligent, he might be able to help us find Darius.

"We're in Hollow- I mean, Radiant Garden. Sorry, I'm so used to calling it Hollow Bastion…" The three of us were standing in what looked like the town square of the small town. It kind of reminded me of Halloween Town, but less spooky. It looked like any other human town, except for all of the construction that was going on. Sora was busy looking around. "I think Merlin's place is this way…it's been a while since I was last here."

"Sora, you're absolutely hopeless."

"That's what I've been telling everyone for years! He's only saved the world several times over because I was there to help." Riku teased his companion and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Sora in an amused fashion.

"I do just fine on my own!" He rolled his eyes at Riku and imitated the silver-haired boy's pose, having a stare-down with his buddy.

"All right, you two, that's enough. What's the problem with asking for directions? Boys are all the same." I laughed cheerily at the two of them and shook my head. Can't live with them, can't live without them, am I right, ladies?

"Is Sora being a knucklehead again? Merlin's place is that way, genius."

"Oh, stop pestering the kid, Leon." A pair of older-looking humans approached the three of us, and Sora immediately beamed from ear to ear.

"Yuffie, Leon! How are you guys?" The tall long-haired brunette male with the giant…gun blade? ...and the ninja-looking dark-haired female both grinned at Sora.

"Long time, no see! How have you been? Looks like you've brought new friends with you this time."

"Oh, right, Riku, Rose, this is Leon and Yuffie. They're friends of Merlin's."

"The old man thought you guys would drop by." Leon smirked at the two. "Lucky we saw you, you probably would have gotten hopelessly lost."

"Well the reconstruction has changed a few things about the town, Leon, of course they would have gotten lost! Follow me; I'll take you to Merlin's place. Leon, you can go ahead to the Reconstruction Committee meeting without me. As you can see, we're just putting the finishing touches on the place. The stupid Heartless still pop in every once in a while, so they're not helping our progress."

Yuffie smiled good-naturedly at all of us before she started walking down one of the cobbled roads leading away from the town square. The three of us followed behind her. The other two were acting completely normal, but I was acting just like I had in Disney Castle: staring around at everything and feeling the world was a lot bigger than I had originally anticipated.

Eventually, all four of us made it to the small house that belonged to Merlin. Then, Yuffie nodded to all of us. "Here you are, Sora. Anyway, I need to get to the meeting. Everyone else is probably already there. Stick around and we can catch up later?" Before any of us could react, she was already rushing off. This meeting must be important if she left us in such a hurry.

"Let's go on in. Merlin probably knows we're here by now. I wonder if Cid is in too…maybe we can go visit Pooh Bear while we're here!"

"Pooh Bear…?" That's an unusual name…

"I'll explain later. Come on!" Without even knocking, Sora barged into the house while Riku and I followed. _This kid is really…energetic…_

Inside, an elderly man wearing blue robes, a funny pointed hat, and an outrageously long grey beard was fiddling around with some books while this muscly brute was busy at a computer, smoking a cigarette. At the sound of the door opening and all three of us entering, they dropped what they were doing and their faces lit up.

"Sora! It's good to see you, lad! And of course, you brought Rose and Riku with you, too, how exciting!"

"How does he know our names…?" Riku seemed a little creeped out. He wasn't the only one.

"That's just Merlin for you. He knows everything." He came in and gave a high five to the muscly guy. "Hey, Cid! How's everything going?"

"Great! Just working on a few prototype upgrades for Gummi Ships."

"Sweet! You have to tell me when they're ready; I'd love to field test them for ya!"

"You know just about everybody in this town." I laughed. "Are you forgetting why we're here, Sora?"

"Oh, right! Merlin…"

"I know why you're here, and I've already looked into the matter for you. I'm afraid my magic has been no help in locating this "Darius" person. But, I can give you and your friends a little magic instruction to help you along the way."

"Well, I don't really need any magic instruction; I've already got my own little brand of fire magic going on."

"There's no shame in learning a few extra tricks. I don't use magic a lot, but it helps a bit when we're in a bind. Merlin knows a bunch of spells, not just ones for attacking. There is healing spells and stuff."

"Just try it out. I'm going to brush up on my magic skills, too."

"All right, I guess at least knowing a healing spell to help out in battle will be useful." I shrugged my shoulders. It shouldn't be that difficult to learn.

"Splendid! Splendid! Let's get to work then, shall we?" The old man pulled a wooden wand from one of his sleeves and we all moved over to a corner of the room. "Now, since we have a newcomer to these basic spells, we'll start with Rose. So you want to learn just a healing spell? You'll have to start out basic, and eventually, you'll get better at it until it gets stronger! This is how Cure works…"

…..

The three of us spent hours, but when I got the basics of the healing spell down and the boys managed to improve their basic element spells a bit more, we stopped for the day.

"Good work! You picked up on that healing spell rather quick, my dear!"

"Thanks, Merlin, for teaching me."

"It's no problem at all! You have a long journey ahead of you, child. It's best to be prepared."

"Hey, while we're here, can we drop in and see Pooh?"

"Well, I don't see why not. The book is in good shape, and I doubt Pooh is very busy at the moment. Bring your friends along, maybe he'll be willing to share some honey with all of you today. After all that practice, you three could use a little break."

"A…book? What do you mean by that, Sora?"

"Pooh's world is in this story book over here, Riku." Sora was pointing to what looked like a children's book sitting on a mantle up against one wall of the room.

"That's interesting. A world inside a world…" I have to say, that is pretty cool.

"Just like how Christmas Town is a whole other world that you can get to from Halloween Town." Riku nodded in my direction.

"You make an excellent point, Riku! I want to see this world while we're here. Who knows when we'll get another chance once we leave? Let's go!"


	5. The Hundred-Acre Wood and the Jungle

Chapter 5: The Hundred-Acre Wood and the Jungle

After the three of us quite literally jumped into a book, we found ourselves much smaller than before, standing on the pages and looking around at the painted images in the book. Sora pointed to one of the images and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Look, there's Pooh's house!"

"But, it's just a picture…how do we get to it…?" I was really puzzled. We weren't exactly in a new world yet, we were just standing on the pages of a book, and we'd shrunk to no bigger than half the size of a ruler.

"It's easy! Watch this!" Sora took a running start and jumped onto the photo, and he vanished. The pictures must work as some sort of gateway to the images displayed in the book. Riku and I exchanged glances before following Sora's example and jumping onto the image, sending us into a mysterious wooded area.

Now, these woods weren't spooky like the woods at home. It felt warm and safe, unlike those. The trees here were healthy and all of them were covered in bright green leaves, not the bare and dead trees of our forest in Halloween Town. Sunlight shone down on us through the leafy covers and gave the area a welcoming atmosphere.

Sora was already rushing on ahead to the little house built into the side of a tree, where a small yellow…bear… wearing a red shirt was standing there and stretching. I noticed that the little creature actually looked like a stuffed toy that was just walking around like it was alive. That reminded me of Sally and made me giggle.

"Hey, Pooh! What are ya up to? I brought some friends with me this time."

"Oh, Hello Sora! I'm just doing my morning exercises. Would you care to join me?"

"Sure!" In a silly turn of events, Sora did actually join in and followed Pooh's lead as he sang and stretched.

"…Up, down, touch the ground, puts me in the mood…for food! I am short, fat, and proud of that…"

When the two boys were done with their stretches, Sora grinned at the small bear. "That was fun! Hey, can I introduce you to my friends? This is Riku and Rose." We waved at the small bear while he waved back.

"It's nice to meet you! Any friend of Sora's is a friend of mine. Would anyone like some honey?"

All of us shook our heads.

"No thanks, Pooh. We can't stay for too long."

"That's a shame. I was just on my way to Piglet's house. We're going to play with Roo today."

"Sounds like fun! Wish we could join in. We'll walk you to Piglet's house, but then we really have to go. I wanted to say hi to the little guy anyway. Say hi to Roo for me when you stop by his house?"

"Of course! Let's get going, then. I don't like to keep my dear friend Piglet waiting." The cheerful bear led the way as he waddled away from his house, and all three of us followed. He's so cute, for a fat little bear.

"Where's Christopher Robin today, Pooh?"

"He hasn't been here since yesterday. I do hope he comes to visit soon."

"Me too!"

It was a bit of a walk, but we made it to Piglet's house, just in time to see a bunch of Heartless surrounding a small pig with really large ears standing on two legs and shivering in fright at the sight of the black monsters. But, as soon as we approached, their faces turned to look at us, more specifically, me.

"O-oh, d-d-dear! Pooh, h-h-help!"

"Looks like Piglet's in trouble!"

Sora immediately pulled out his Keyblade. "What are Heartless doing here!? They almost never come into the book!"

I glared and got my own out. "They're here for me. Let's get them!"

Riku nodded in agreement as his Keyblade popped up. "Stay here, Pooh, we'll rescue Piglet!" The bear nodded and moved out of the way while all three of us charged into battle. Now that we were here, the Heartless completely ignored the little pig and came after us. With a few swipes of our Keyblades, we easily destroyed them.

After clearing them out, Sora approached the scared pig and picked him up. "Its okay, Piglet, they're gone now."

"S-Sora! T-T-Thank you." A smile crept across the little guy's face as his miniscule arms gave the much bigger being a hug.

"Are you all right, Piglet?" Pooh sounded worried as he hobbled on over, but Piglet shook his head reassuringly at the bear.

"I'm all right, Pooh."

I glanced between both boys. "This has been fun, but we should go…" _I'm bringing them here to this place…these stuffed animals are totally helpless…If I go, they should leave them alone…_

"But I gotta make sure those Heartless are gone!" Sora had a determined look on his face, but Riku must have sensed my need to leave.

"Sora, it'll be fine. Let's go." He gave a stern look to his friend, who just sighed and put Piglet down. I'm glad he wasn't going to be stupid and fight us on this one. He looked just about ready to a second ago.

"We really have to go, Pooh. Sorry…"

"It's all right. Now, come Piglet. Kanga and Roo are waiting for us! Goodbye, everyone! It was nice meeting you, Riku and Rose."

"R-Right…Bye Sora!" While the two scampered off to go play with their friend, Sora showed us how to exit the book.

"Riku, why'd you make us leave? There could have been more Heartless there!" His only response was a nudge in the ribs.

"Let's go back to the Gummi Ship, put it on auto pilot, and head to bed after dinner. All of us have had a long day. I think your friends will understand if we get out of here, Sora. We can come back later when they're not busy." He gave Sora a look that basically said "not now" and led the way out of the house. Merlin had dozed off on one of his books and Cid was nowhere to be seen, so we left as quietly as we could. I'm glad at least Riku understood.

While we were walking, the two boys suddenly slowed down way behind me, and I heard hushed whispering. Riku must have been explaining things to Sora. _At least Riku has some sense around here. Sora's a fun guy, but he acts first and thinks later. What a weird combination of friends…_

…..

The next morning, the Gummi Ship had run all night and taken us to another world thanks to auto pilot. After a quick breakfast, all of us were ready to go. I was in a much better mood after some sleep.

"I wonder where we're at…? What world is this, Sora?"

"You're gonna like this one! I haven't been here in ages!" The kid beamed happily as he spotted the world we'd drifted to. "I hope Tarzan and Jane are still here…they might be able to help us find Darius." He was already eagerly leaving the Gummi Ship, with Riku and me following behind.

"I hope I can find the way…last time I was here, Donald, Goofy and I crashed here and got separated…"

"Don't get us lost, Sora!"

"Hey, it's been a long time since I was here!" He rolled his eyes and trudged into the brush of this dense jungle.

"Sora's got no idea where he's going, does he?"

"Nope."

"I guess we're screwed."

…..

We'd been walking through that jungle for ages now. This world seems so big, so it's no wonder we were hopelessly lost. Riku and I both sighed in unison. Sora had gotten us all lost, but we weren't going to hold it against him. Every tree, bush, and bamboo shoot looked exactly the same as the next one.

All of us were currently struggling to get through the bamboo shoots without anything to cut them out of our way. We had to keep pushing them aside and move through quickly before they snapped back into place behind us. Each member of our trio had been whacked somewhere by a bamboo shoot at least once. Being the clumsiest, I'd been hit on the head twice and one smacked me on the behind. I was moving through some very tough bamboo shoots when they all snapped back into place and whacked me in the face, knocking me on my rear.

I heard laughter through the curtain of bamboo as Riku's head appeared where I had just been trying to climb through. "Having difficulty there, Rose?"

"Awww, stuff it, Riku." I stuck my tongue out at him as I stood and wiped dirt off of my dress.

"Let me help." He pushed back some bamboo with one hand and held the other out to me. I was kind of embarrassed that I needed help in the first place, but I wasn't going to turn away a genuine offer of aid.

I took his hand and climbed through; releasing it once I was on the other side. "Man, these things are thick…thanks for the help."

"You should go ahead of me; I'll walk behind you and make sure you can keep up."

"Uh, okay…"

"Hey, you're my apprentice, right? Can't have you injuring yourself on my watch."

"Point taken." Doesn't mean it wasn't embarrassing. I trudged on ahead to catch up with Sora while Riku trailed behind me.

"Sora, slow down! Sheesh, we can't keep up with you!" The boy stopped and turned around, waiting for us to catch up.

"Come on, slowpokes! We're bound to run into them sometime or- WHOA!" A leopard came crashing through the bamboo and ran right towards us, so we all bolted. Heartless, I can handle. Leopards, not so much. Unfortunately for us, two more joined in the chase. If it wasn't for the bamboo slowing us and the leopards down, they would have probably caught us by now.

All three of us crashed into a clearing, and the leopards were right behind seconds later. The whole clearing was surrounded by bamboo except for one walkway, but with such a small path leading farther into the jungle, we'd never escape them. We'd have to stand our ground and scare them off.

I took out my Keyblades and bravely turned to face them. "Guys, we'll never outrun them at this rate! We have to scare them off!" I didn't want to have to hurt these creatures; they were just trying to find some food. But, if it comes down to us or them, I'd choose us. I'm not ready to be eaten by a leopard!

The boys followed my example. There were three of us and three of them, so each of us took on a leopard. The little monsters were fast, but with a few swings of our Keyblades, they'd back off. They would advance, back up, and then advance again, dancing around our attacks like they were nothing.

_Maybe they are trying to wear us out…?_ It was definitely working. After trekking for hours in the jungle without a break, all of us were tired enough already! Then we had to run away from a pack of hungry leopards, and NOW we're fighting them. Anybody would be tired after that.

"Maybe we could try some magic…!" That would scare them off, definitely. I blasted one of my fireballs at the feet of my opponent. It started freaking out at the heat of the flames and danced away from me, growling. The flame vanished into thin air, and I smirked at the leopard. "Come at me, leopard!" Instead, it turned tail and ran.

"Great idea, Rose!" Riku scared his leopard off with a jolt of Thunder, and Sora froze the last one with Blizzard.

"Okay, let's keep moving before something else tries to jump out and eat us." I put my Keyblades away and headed down the path ahead of us. "Let's just stick to this path for now, eh? It's better than trudging through the bamboo shoots. We made so much noise, it's no wonder that they came after us."

Riku and Sora both nodded in agreement as they fell in step behind me. This world has been the most exciting one we've been to so far, but I doubt it would be the most dangerous one we stepped foot on.

We kept walking, but we didn't go far when more leopards came out at us, but they weren't just regular leopards: these looked like leopard men. The big cats were standing on two legs, and they were even wearing loincloths and warrior headdresses. They also weren't alone. A much tanned woman sporting the same clothes as them was leading the pack, carrying a staff in her hand. She was obviously the leader.

"What are humans doing in **my** jungle…?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You're a human yourself. Don't be a hypocrite." I really didn't like her snobby attitude.

"You shall watch your tone in front of me, human. I am Queen La, and I do rule this jungle."

Sora laughed. "I think Tarzan would have to say something about that."

The woman glowered at him. "You know Tarzan…?"

"Yeah, he's my friend! Hey, have you seen him? We're looking for him."

"Friends of Tarzan…?" She looked at all three of us, eyeing us up like she was eyeing up prey. It made a shiver go down my spine. Something definitely wasn't right about this woman. She seemed deep in thought as she surveyed our faces.

"I bet we can find him on our own, you're probably really busy. Thanks anyway." I quickly made up the excuse and headed towards the path, but she had other ideas.

"None of you are going anywhere. Get them!" She pointed at us with her staff, and the Leopard Men rushed right at us. We tried to get away, but these guys were ripped. In no time one had grabbed each of us, struggling and trying to get free of our captors. Something tells me she's not exactly on our side, or Tarzan's either.

"This is perfect! I can use these children to lure Tarzan away from Jane, leaving her unprotected, and my Leopard Men will finally destroy her! Then, Tarzan will be mine!" The evil laugh she uttered echoed wickedly through the air. Yup, she's one of the villains in this world. I wasn't about to let her get away with her evil plans.

"You know, lady, today is not a good day to piss me off!" In a flash, I surprised the Leopard Man holding me by pulling out my shadow wings, punching the cat in the snout, and flying out of his reach.

"What…!? Get her! Don't let her get away!" They tried to grab my feet, but I was too far up for them to grab. They even tried climbing the bamboo shoots and then jumping to snatch me out of the air, but to no avail. I wanted to stay and try to rescue the boys, but there would be no way I could take them on alone. I'd need help.

"Sora, Riku! I'm going to go find Tarzan! I'll be back for you, I promise!" I took off down the path we had planned to walk, trying to dodge the Leopard Men that were chasing me. From the looks of it, they were going to follow me until I lost them all completely.

They were stubborn, I'd give them that. It was getting harder to dart away from them with all of the bamboo around, but finally the forest of shoots gave way to actual jungle. Flying higher wasn't going to solve my problem, though, now they were jumping through the trees and chasing me. This had just made it easier for them to keep up with me.

**BAM!**

I grimaced as one of the Leopard Men slammed into me and we fell to the ground together. The fall knocked the wind out of me and my head was dizzy, but I didn't have time to worry about that now. Sharp teeth were descending on me and claws were tearing at my arms. I had to push him off, or he was going to chew my face to bits!

With my heavy boots, I used all the strength I had to try to kick the heavy Leopard Man off of me. He was sent tumbling to the side, but not very far. I staggered to my feet as the rest of them surrounded me. I was completely cornered, but I couldn't give up yet. Sora and Riku were still in danger, and if they were going to get rescued, it was up to me to go find Tarzan and ask, maybe even beg, for his help.

I growled at them like an animal as they snarled back, sharp teeth glinting in the afternoon sun. I was wounded and outnumbered, and they knew it all too well. I pulled out my Keyblades to show them I meant business.

"Back up, cats! You might just be following orders, but I won't hesitate to take you down!" They didn't listen to me as all of them tried to pounce on me at once. I took to the skies once again and avoided the onslaught of furry bodies, but they were on me in seconds when they realized what I had done. This time, if any came too close for comfort as they gave chase, I gave them a whack with a Keyblade to send them back.

I was tiring out quickly, and they used that to their advantage. It took two this time, but I ended up grounded and crashing to the jungle floor once again, this time blacking out for a few seconds from the impact. I'm tougher than the average human, but two whacks to the head in one day? Ouch. At least I was only out for a few seconds.

Someone was trying to help me up as I shook off the haze after I woke up. I assumed it was just one of the Leopard Men and pulled away, but I stopped when I realized it was just a man. No fur, no spots, though he was only wearing a loincloth, which was kind of embarrassing, and his brown hair was really shaggy.

"Are you all right…?" He had these really big brown eyes that looked worried, but I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Where did the Leopard Men go…?"

"I scared them off. They don't like me much. But, what are they doing here in the first place? They serve Queen La, but I got rid of her…"

As I remembered the reason WHY I was being chased by Leopard Men, my thoughts snapped back to reality. "Obviously, you didn't, because she's captured my friends! I barely got away myself. They would have had me if you hadn't shown up. Do you know a guy named Tarzan?"

He pointed to himself. "I'm Tarzan."

"Oh, well that makes everything easier. I need your help to rescue my friends! One of them knows you. His name is Sora. When Sora told her you were his friend, she tried to capture all of us as bait for you."

"Sora? Sora's here!?" His eyes grew wide. Sora must have been gone longer than I thought to illicit this reaction.

"Yes, and now he's in big trouble! Will you help me…?"

"First things first; you're hurt. We'll go get them later, I promise. I have to go tell Jane and the others where I'm going as well. Are you well enough to walk?"

I rolled my eyes. "I can do more than that." Wings at the ready, I hovered a bit in the air. "Lead the way."

He seemed surprised, but, he probably had seen some weird enough things in his lifetime, because he shrugged it off and ran off on all fours, kind of like a monkey. I quickly followed, keeping up with the nimble man. _For a buff guy, he's also quite fast._

The two of us arrived at a really large tree house not much farther in the jungle. While he climbed up and in, I landed on the "porch" and walked inside with him.

"Jane! I'm home!"

"Where have you been Tarzan? You took off so suddenly…" A very pretty brunette woman rounded the corner and spotted us. "Oh? Who's this, Tarzan? My goodness, what on Earth happened? You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine, really!" The scratches from the Leopard Men did look rather awful, though, so of course she came over and fussed over them in a motherly fashion.

"I'll patch this up right away, not to worry dear. Tarzan, what happened?"

"Leopard Men happened."

"But didn't you destroy Queen La's staff…and turn her into a rat?"

"I did, but I saw them myself."

"Let's take care of her first and you can explain everything." I wanted to go quickly and resolve this issue, but Jane would have none of that. She sat me down and bandaged the scratches while Tarzan retold the story of what had just occurred.

"…And she was being attacked by them when I arrived. That's why I left so suddenly. I thought I heard something unusual."

"Well, I'm glad you got there in the nick of time. This could have been much worse."

"I'm telling you, I'm fine! We have to go after Queen La before she does something to Sora and Riku!"

"Sora? I swear I've heard that name before…"

Tarzan nodded to her. "Remember that boy that helped us stop Clayton and those Heartless monsters?"

"Oh, right! Now I remember! How could I forget something like that? You're all patched up, so you can go show Tarzan where you last saw your friends. Tarzan, bring Tantor and Terk with you. You'll need all the help you can get."

"No, I'm leaving Terk here to watch after you. La is after you, Jane! I can't leave you unprotected while I'm gone."

"All right…" She seemed a bit depressed at that, but I gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"I won't let anything happen to Tarzan, I promise. I may not look like much, but I can hold my own, too." I gave her a fierce nod and stood. "Let's go. I've kept Riku and Sora waiting long enough."

"Let's go save our friends, and put La back in her place."


End file.
